


I'm in love with a Starboy (Klance Version)

by Amorina21



Series: Starboy [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Club AU, Dancing and Singing, Disco, Fluff, How do some have so many Tags, Love, M/M, Mild Angst, My First Fanfic, The Weeknd, These Tags are exhausting, club, dance au, starboy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-08-17 13:01:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8144960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amorina21/pseuds/Amorina21
Summary: Keith Kogane had it all planned out. He would spend the evening working on his motorbike, take it for a spin and then battle his insomnia like every night. But what are plans if they aren't crossed? Keith hadn't planned on coming to the lamely named Club Voltron. He hadn't planned to take even one sip of alcohol. He hadn't planned on actually having fun and he definitely didn't plan to be starstruck that night by a latino boy with way too much energy. Lance on the other hand didn't plan to fall in love.





	1. The ruined plans

**Author's Note:**

> So... Hey there Voltron Fandom ^^ my name's Lisa and this is my first attempt at writing an FF. Inspired by the Song Starboy (I conveniently changed the lyrics) from The Weeknd that I've heard on the radio during my nightshift last night. I never felt so inspired to actually write something. This must be some strange combination of my lack of sleep, the autumn vibes, candlelight and the said song blaring loudly. This is like… just a trial. See how I'm cut out for this stuff. I will attempt to write two versions. One being Klance, and the other being Sheith.
> 
> This has not been beta read and I'm already sorry for the fatal grammar I'm about to throw around! :D
> 
> In this fic Keith and Lance are 21, Shiro is 23, Hunk is 20 and Pidge is 19. Allura is 25.

It’s Friday night and bloody cold for September. That’s what Keith thought as he left the warm apartment that he shares with his best (and only) friend Shiro. Stuffing his hands into his jacket's pockets, he marches quickly into the slightly warmer garage where his motorbike waits for him. The car isn’t there so Keith actually has space to work on his bike before he would go for a nightly ride. So far so good. His plan is working out. Switching on the light he walks around the bike and wonders where he should start.  
Shiro is out for the night after Keith declined his offer to let him come too. He left to go to the new disco, or club? whatever, that just reopened after having been closed since the mid 80’s. Apparently the businessman Coran purchased the Club because he used to go there in his teens. Keith figured he just wanted to feel young again and couldn’t bear to get old like normal human beings. It has this stupid name “Voltron”. Shiro didn’t get to explain further because Keith had cut him off. He had no interest in a place with loud music and a stupid name. 

 

He didn’t like to be around people anyway, he preferred the solitude. He was content with having just Shiro by his side. They trust each other with their life. Any more friends and he would just hurt again. Being the foster system for 14 years, and having nearly as many foster families has made him understandably antisocial. In his entire life he has only opened up to Shiro, who simply ignores the constantly scowling, angry man until the latter runs out of steam and buckles under Shiro’s soft stare.

 

Anyway, as Keith settles down and starts to tinker with his bike, he becomes completely absorbed and loses track of time. He hums to the rhythmic clanking of the metal, so he doesn’t notice his mobile vibrating in his pocket at first. He bats at his leg in irritation before he realizing that he’s getting a call. With raised eyebrows he swiftly pulls up his phone only to see that Shiro is calling. It was already 23:45, meaning that Keith had been working in the garage for a minimum four hours. Worried he picks up immediately. He is greeted by a loud bass that steadily drums in his ear.  
“Shiro? Is something wrong? Why are you calling?”

“Keith?! I can’t really hear you, but uh…. I already drank too much and can’t drive home. I found a friend who's taking care of me and I just wanted to let you know, so don’t worry and good night!”

“Wha—Where? You DRANK?! Where are you going to sleep? Shiro!” Keith shouts confused into the phone and scowls when the connection is lost. Since Shiro couldn’t hear him, he apparently decided to just hang up. Still scowling Keith shoves his phone back into his jeans. 

There goes his plan. 

Because seriously, Shiro NEVER drank when he was with the car. So that irresponsible behavior was very suspicious and Keith wouldn’t rest until he found out why. Dragging his bike out into the cold he shivers, his sweat filmed skin reacting to the breeze. After quickly locking the garage, he starts the motor and mounts before taking off.  
Keith arrives just a few minutes before midnight and can already hear the music blasting from outside. He scans the isolated building in the worn down industrial area and it looks like what used to be a storagehouse and shakes his head in distaste. The colorful “Voltron” logo is not modern at all despite looking new. It flashes in a multitude of colors. Keith parks his bike and walks up to the entrance. The closer he gets, the more he’s blinded by the flashing neonlights. The bouncer looks him up and lets him proceed. Taking a deep breath, Keith goes through the door and immediately pulls his hands to his ears. The music is deafening. He starts to feel warm and sticky when the humid air slowly clings to him. 

Bright lights are flashing everywhere and Keith needs a moment to get his eyesight and orientation back. From what he can see, the club is one huge circular room, separated by soundproof glass into 5 areas, each having a different color code flashing brightly: Yellow, green, black, blue and red respectively, black being the VIP area in the middle that is closed off with velvet curtains. Each colored area has their own bar and from what Keith can hear, different genres of music.  
Keith groans loudly, how is he supposed to find Shiro in this mess? The Voltron was full, people were squirming and pushing to move in any direction. He feels claustrophobic just by looking into the living sea of humans and nearly backs out. He harshly reminds himself why he’s here and takes a stuttering deep breath. Then he dives.

Three seconds later he feels the first foot stomping clumsily on his own and he trips into a group of girls who start giggling.

“What a way to hit on us!,” one girl laughs airily while another one looks him up and down.  
“He’s kinda cute though, I wanna take him home.” Keith gives an angry snort. “Back off, you’re in my way!”

He turns and dives back into the crowd, effectively drowning out the women. He somehow ends up in the yellow area and fights his way to the bar.  
“Hey! Have you seen a guy with partially white hair and a prosthetic arm?,” he shouts at the bartender, desperate to be heard with all the noise. The bartender, a tanned, chummy guy Keith’s age, wearing a fricking yellow T-Shirt in the Yellow Area and a nametag stating “Hunk” turns around. Keith isn’t sure if the name is real or a joke. Either way, Hunk fits the big guy perfectly, although Keith would never admit to that. 

“White hair and prosthetic arm? Yeah, I saw him. But he left the yellow area, looked pretty wasted to me. Better check the other areas. Good luck buddy!,” replies the bartender with an overly friendly smile. 

Keith frowns. “Was he alone?”

“No, he was with Allura. Are you alright? You look pale buddy.” came the reply and Keith frowns some more and Hunk didn’t think it was possible for a forehead to scrunch up like that.

“Uh who? Never mind. Thanks.”  
Keith disappears in the crowd again and roughly shoves his way through before Hunk could say anything else. He was angry at Shiro. Staying over at a friends? Yeah right.

 

With an ever growing frustration and anxiety bouncing in his stomach, he checks out the green area. No luck there either. He only takes a quick look at the green themed DJ P. who has an incredible amount of gadgets and devices set up, and doesn’t bother to ask him. Or her? It was difficult to tell through the flashing lights. By now Keith felt deaf. He just wanted to find Shiro and drag his ass out of here as fast as possible. 

He fights his way to the blue Area and feels himself dipped in blue lights. The song changes and he hears an ecstatic shout. He notices a lanky guy jumping on what appears to be a tiny stage. Keith recalls seeing a stage like that in the other two areas. Must be for the attention whores. Just like that scrawny guy who just hopped on there, grabbing the mic and jamming to the sound of Beyoncés “All the Single ladies”. Keith is about to turn away when he realizes that he could use the stage to get on higher ground. Perhaps he could see Shiro then, or the other way around. It would give him a chance to leave the crowd too. His stomach was starting to feel queasy and he needed a breather. Determined he squeezes himself towards the stage and hops up. He didn’t calculate that the guy jumping wildly on the stage might actually get very close to him, until suddenly not more than an inch separates their noses.

 

Keith looks up only to gaze into the most beautiful ocean blue eyes he has ever seen, widened in surprise by his sudden appearance and seemingly sparkling with all the flashing lights. The air Keith’s been desperately trying to get, left his lungs as fast as it came in.


	2. The name's Lance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter involves the main cast meeting, Lance either pulling Keith in one direction, or Lance running after Keith (as far as running in a crammed club works)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the Kudos and the comments!! ^^ They really hyped me up, and I hopefully I'll live up to the expectations. This chapter involves a lot of dialogue and some small bits of Lance's point of view.

“Hey, it looks like we got a challenger!,” the eyes shouted and Keith blinked in confusion. What happening? He focuses on the grinning guy in front of him.

The tanned boy with the blue eyes pumps one fist in the air, the microphone in the other and hoots. The crowd goes wild in response and looks expectantly to Keith when he suddenly finds himself with the microphone in his hands. He can hear the chanting.

“Sing! Sing! Sing!”

When Keith just continues to stand there, astounded expression, the guy laughs and takes the mic from him again.

“Looks like he’s shy, shall we show him how it’s done?,” Again loud cheering and the music gets turned up to the prolonged beats of Beyoncé.

With that he’s starting to move and Keith gapes. Dressed in a blue silk shirt, that shows a little more chest than necessary, and tight white trousers, the blue-eyed beauty starts to swing his butt to the beat. His whole body seems to pick up on the motion and Keith wonders how it’s possible for the body to move so fluid. The young man then lifts his mic to his lips and starts to sing. It sounded off key and yet angelic.  
_“Here's a man that makes me, then takes me  
_

And delivers me to a destiny, to infinity and beyond

Pull me into your arms, say I'm the one you own

If you don't, you'll be alone

And like a ghost I’ll be gone.”

He turns around and sings while watching Keith who distinctly takes in the meaning of the words. Keith feels his face flushing red almost instantly and he abruptly escapes from the stage. Diving straight back into the crowd he pushes his way out of the blue area, ignoring the calls for him to wait behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


“Wait!”

Lance uselessly shouted after the black-haired boy. He was still dumbstruck. How could anyone have this distinct indigo color? When they stood so close, he even thought to have seen some specks of gold in his dark irises. His eyes had seemed like a door to the universe, gleaming with bright stars.  
Lance quietly curses after he recovers. How dare that beauty just run off stage and leave him standing there like a rejected idiot? There’s no way he was going to let this guy off the hook. And in no way did that serve as an excuse to actually talk normally to him.  
He jumps of the stage and follows him. That red jacket biker jacket is easy to follow. As he follows him he keeps thinking if he might have teased the guy too much. He had looked stressed, maybe he just wanted escape? Lance almost felt guilt at the thought of denying him that breather. Almost.  


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith gives a sigh of relief once he’s back in the common area. He looks around and then makes his way towards the red area when he feels a warm hand on his shoulder. Convinced it’s Shiro, he turns around with a scowl.

“Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?! We’re going home, NOW!,”

“Hold your horses Sweety. I know I’m irresistible but I’d rather have a proper introduction first. I’m Lance, awesome King of the blue realm.”

Keith raises his eyebrows, incredulous. Just how much confidence does this guy have? Is that even legal? He still can’t prevent his cheeks from blushing slightly though.

“Sorry, I mistook you for someone else. I’m looking for my friend.”

“Damn, and here I thought I finally met my true love.”

“Are you making _fun_ of me?”

“Nope.”

Keith rolls his eyes and scowls. Lance lifts his hands apologetically.

“So, you’re looking for your friend? Maybe I can help?”

“Don’t you have a kingdom to rule?”

“A king needs a break now and then, and I feel like I embarrassed you there for a sec- IS THAT A MULLET?!”

Keith, in a rare display of self-consciousness, reaches for his hair.

“Yeah, got a problem?” he snaps and Lance just stares.

“ Are you an 80s admirer?”

“I hate the 80s.”

“B..but you have a MULLET!”

“So what?!”

“Actually, on second thought you actually wear it really nicely. I don’t think I could pull it off like that.”

Keith growls. Following the conversation while practically shouting in each other’s ear to be even heard is tiring. Lance was restless, moving from one topic to the next and he was having trouble catching up.

“My friend has a white tuff of hair and a prosthetic arm. Seen him?”

Lance’s face lights up. Beautifully if Keith may add. “Prosthetic arm? Yeah, I saw him with Allura.”

Keith looks at him and curiosity finally takes over. “Who the hell is Allura?”

“She is the co-owner of Voltron.”

“And what is Shiro doing with her?”

“Probably having fun? Since that is what you normally come into a club for?”

Keith ignores the ironic comment and lifts his finger to his mouth, the other arm leaning across his chest. He’s lost in thoughts. A club owner, female, possible the reason that Shiro decided to drink? But why? Did she trick him? He wouldn’t normally do that, not even to impress. He only drank when he was relaxed, when he felt safe. A club, in Keith’s opinion is the exact opposite of safe.

He startles when Lance suddenly grabs him arm.

“Come on mullet boy, I saw them going to Reds. They’re probably still there listening to Rolo’s lame hour of Lovesongs.”

Keith huffs quietly, he didn’t like to be pulled around. Oddly enough, he surprised himself by making no attempt to free himself. Lance’s warm fingers were securely wrapped around his wrist to make sure he isn’t lost in the crowd. They were all Keith could focus on, and strangely enough he suddenly didn’t mind the sweaty people around him anymore. He only saw Lance in front of him and wondered if they put something in the air-conditioning for him to feel so warm and fuzzy inside.

They entered the red area and walk towards the DJ counter where a tall man with a teal vest, a goatee and seemingly white hair pushes levers while moving to the slow rhythm. He grins when he sees Lance coming up to them.

“Fancy seeing you here Lancey, I thought you disliked the love hour?” The DJ named Rolo smirked at them.

“I wouldn’t listen to it when it could save my life.” Lance replied yawning excessively and nodded to Keith.

“I’m here because of mullet boy here, you’ve seen Allura?”

“Yeah, she’s over at the bar.”

Keith’s head whips around, and sure enough, he sees Shiro sitting at the bar. He was talking with a woman with silver hair. Though the reddish lights made it look more pink. He assumed that that must be Allura. Keith squinted his eyes at his friend. He looked really happy which surprised him. Shiro was a good person who got along with most people, but he rarely smiled like that to anyone expect Keith. He almost instantly feels a pang of jealousy. Swallowing it, Keith makes his way to them and rather roughly jabs Shiro in the side. The poor man didn’t know what was coming and spilled the drink in his hand rather violently.

Keith was satisfied to see that Shiro had splashed some alcohol on the woman too, who leaned back in surprise and then frowned.

“What the… K..keith?! Wh..what are you doing here?”

Keith glares at him.

“Isn’t that what I should be asking?” He let his glare sway to Allura. “I came to pick you up. “

“What? I called you Keith and I said…” “You said you would sleepover at a friend. This looks like more than just a friend to me. You probably just met her today! And there you are, drinking? How irresponsible can you get?! She could drug you and pull your ass anywhere!” Keith reprimanded Shiro harshly, who had the decency to look guilty.

“Uh… let me introduce you first…” he murmurs and gets off his chair, swaying slightly as Keith notices.

“This is Allura, Allura, this is my roommate Keith.”

Allura, who has been wiping her dress, looks up and smiles warmly.

“Hello Keith. Nice to meet you, Shiro has told me about you. And no, we didn’t meet today, we’ve known each other for a few weeks now. We… we’re a thing. If you understand what I mean.”

Keith’s jaw drops open and he stares at Shiro, pained.

“And you DIDN’T TELL ME?!”

“There was a lot going on…”

“What about yesterday when we talked while making dinner together? That was enough time to tell me that you got yourself a girlfriend! What next? You’re moving together? Marrying? Oh wait, engagement comes before that.”

Shiro lifted both his hands in an attempt to calm Keith down.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want you to find out this way…”

_“Why?_ To not hurt clueless little Keith who once confessed to you?” Keith spat angrily.

Shiro’s gaze softens but at the same time he sighs in frustration. “I, no, Keith please…”

“No Shiro, you know what? Fuck off. I’m going home. Go sober up somewhere else. I shouldn’t have even bothered to worry. As always, you’re clearly good enough to take care of yourself and don’t need me!”, Keith shouts, feeling betrayed, and then his little frame disappears in the crowd before Shiro can stop him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  


Lance lazily watches as the young man (that cocky runt hasn’t even told him his name yet) storms towards the broad-shouldered guy like some angry war god. He leans against the bar, at a safe distance.  
He chuckles as the big guy called Shiro spills his drink everywhere. Shiro then shrinks under the blazing glare of the smaller man. Allura tries to take over, her smile soft, despite having a drink spilt all over her expensive dress. She talks only a few sentences before there is a shift in the mood. Suddenly the anger is wiped from the mullet boy's face, like a candle that’s been blown out and his expression his replaced by one of utter shock, disbelief and… _hurt_. A lot of hurt from what Lance can see. Unconsciously he feels his heart going out for the young man, even when mullet boy shakes his head and apparently says a lot of hurtful things by the way Shiro’s face becomes crestfallen. But Shiro doesn’t get up, although he initially tries. Allura places a hand on Shiro's thigh and shakes her head. In response, Shiro sinks back on the barstool and orders another drink.

Lance in the meantime, follows Keith when he dashes off, _again._ Is running all those pretty eyes can do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn Keith, always in a hurry! 
> 
> I'll try to stick to regular updates once a week since I've also started writing another FF which is going to be a Voltron Prison AU.  
> Let me know if you prefer the weekend or midweek for the regular updates.
> 
> Feel free to check out my Twitter https://twitter.com/Fortressen  
> aaaaaaand my Tumblr https://fortressen.tumblr.com/
> 
> I appreciate every comment - let me know what you think ^^


	3. Comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sat down to write this chapter around 3-4 times, and everytime I received an email informing me of an update of some awesome FF that couldn’t wait to be read like ([On thin Ice](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7754422/chapters/17753359), [Legend of Sun & Moon](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8029366/chapters/18386050), [of florists and tennis shoes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7512295/chapters/17076820); then I wrote another new FF ([A musician's heart](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8198696/chapters/18782300)) and it all went downhill from there. But I finally got it done, here is the promised weekly update.  
> I’m amazed at the support I’ve been getting. I really appreciate it *happy* Thank you so much ^o^ I’m by no means perfect, and if you do happen to find grave mistakes in both sense and grammar – feel free to point them out. I’ve been trying to polish up on my grammar and to focus on writing in a consistent tense (I know I still fail at that though ^^” )
> 
> Special thanks @Annzy_Bananzy; your comments are worth gold to me :3

Lance comes from a large family with many younger siblings, six to be precise. If there is one thing he can do, it is to be there and listen when someone is upset. Like when his four-year-old sister Emma fell and scraped her knee. She kept crying until Lance sang her favorite song. It distracted her enough for him to clean the wound and stick a colorful band-aid on it. She’d forgotten all about the wound afterwards. Lance can whip up smiles like a champ. He had to admit though, that he didn’t think that Keith would be so stubborn; so much that even _he_ had a hard time trying to comfort the raven-haired mullet boy.

After the nameless stranger had run off, Lance took after him. He found him in the toilets where he supported himself on the sink, shaking, and retching heavily. He looked miserable. Lance slowly walked up to him and placed a warm hand on his back.

“Hey...”, he started softly, but his hand was immediately batted away.

“Leave me alone! I don’t need you to make fun of me, I can do that perfectly on my own as you just saw,” the smaller boy growled viciously. Lance lifted his hands and backed away, as if trying to calm a wild animal.

“No touching, I get it. I’m sorry, I do NOT want to make fun of you,” Lance insisted causing the other boy to just roll his eyes. Ignoring Lance, he splashed some cold water in his face. Without drying, he turned to leave, stopping only when Lance suddenly stood in his way. How could he leave him alone while he still looked like he was about to cry at any moment? This guy needed a distraction, fast.

“Didn’t I make myself clear? I said leave me alone!”

Lance pinched his brows, his own irritation starting to flare up. Why exactly was he being nice to him, he asked himself, before grabbing him by the shoulder and yanking him close.

“You listen to me now mullet head! I’m a generous guy. I helped you find your friend. I don’t know what happened, but I do know that you’re currently self-destructive enough that you shouldn’t be by yourself right now. Allow me to cheer you up; I’m good at that. Let me invite you for a drink and let’s just forget about the last twenty minutes. You could finally tell me your name, or else I will just keep calling you mullet boy, midget, stranger or angry face!”

Lance could watch the guys face switch from sour to incredulous and surprised, followed by a simple angry glare. It was almost funny.

“Midget?!” Keith grabbed him by the nape of his shirt and pulled him closer. Lance stopped breathing for a moment when the indigo irises were just a few centimeters away. He had never seen such a beautiful color. His pale skin seemed to highlight his eyes and his dark hair completed the perfect setting. Lance felt his mouth go dry.

“You’re only one or two inches taller than me, so stop being an asshole about it. I don’t owe you my name. You waltz in here and pretend to be my new best friend. Fuck off before you regret it!”

Lance bristled and opened his mouth to say something. Then he changed his mind and charged forwards to collide with Keith’s head. The latter winced and let go of Lance, clutching his forehead with both hands.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!,” he shouted. Lance just rubbed his head absently and grinned lightly. “I don’t pretend to be your best friend, but I _could potentially_ become your best friend. Stop resisting my charm and stop making it so hard for me mullet boy!” Grabbing the raven-haired by the wrist, he dragged him outside into the crowd again and made a beeline for the blue area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith didn’t understand Lance. He didn’t understand why Lance had followed him; why he was so adamant about “helping” and why he didn’t back off; even though he told him to multiple times. By now he had a major headache and was suddenly very tired. All his energy and anger had gone. Only a dull but persistent ache remained in his chest. Without a fight, Keith let the brown-haired male pull him through the crowd, _once again_ , and made sure to keep his head down when they walked past the red area. Seeing Shiro or be seen by him was the last thing Keith wanted.

Lance hauled him to towards the few cushioned seats next to the bar. Three guys were sitting on it, but quickly left to make room for Lance and his company. The boy winked a thanks and gently pushed Keith down.

Taking a breath, he settled into the cushions and risked a glance towards Lance.

“Stay,” came the order before he sauntered off.

Sighing deeply, Keith leaned back and placed his hands on his face and felt pathetic. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. What was he supposed to do now? Apologizing to Shiro wouldn’t be enough. After what he did tonight, it would _never_ be enough. A simple sorry would just not mend the gap he ripped into their friendship. Not only had he hurt Shiro, he had hurt his romantic interest, this… Allura, too. Worst of all, he couldn’t rid himself from his personal satisfaction when the drink had ruined Allura’s dress. Even now, all he could think about was how she had deserved it. She had taken his Shiro away from him. She was the reason Shiro had been so distracted, looking all guilty whenever Keith caught him talking on the phone with someone else (now he guessed Allura). She was a person he trusted enough to get drunk around.

She was the reason Shiro wasn’t looking at _him_.

Keith felt his anger and jealousy flare again when he suddenly had an ice-cold glass pressed against his ear. He yelped and looked up. Lance stood in front of him with a blue cocktail in his left and a red one in his right hand. He pushed the red cocktail into Keith’s open hands and settled down on the couch next to him, practically inhaling his own drink.

“You really need to get that frown from your face. You’ll end up with early wrinkles if you don’t take care of yourself.”

“I suppose you’re the expert?” was Keith’s dry reply before taking a small sip of the cocktail. It tasted sweet and the alcohol was hardly noticeable. Intrigued he took a mouthful. He barely noticed the wide grin Lance broke into.

“Of course! I only use the best moisturizer and skin care products on the market. How else do you think my skin is able to glow like that? I could give you advice, you need it anyway so I won’t take no for an answer!”

Keith rolled his eyes. Of course the stranger he meets in a club is a self-conscious nerd with weird hobbies and no sense for privacy.

“Oi, I saw that! You don’t believe me!” Lance grabbed Keith’s free hand and placed it on his cheek.

“Feel the soft skin! That is the result of hours of hard work!”

Keith pulled his hand away, feeling as if his fingertips had caught on fire. Lance seemed to still too, as if realizing what he had just done.

“That wasn’t supposed to be so weird! Aaaaanyway, how do you like Hunk’s Cheer Up drink? It’s awesome, isn’t it? I ran all the way to Yellow to get it. Hunk makes the best cocktails. He once made one for my siblings – without alcohol of course and then…”

Lance started rambling and Keith let him. He hardly understood him anyway. The club’s music still boomed loud enough to make his bones rattle. That’s why Lance had to sit close in order to even have a chance of being heard. Somehow his voice soothed Keith’s troubled mind. He was talking bullshit, stuff that was hardly relevant and Keith guessed that Lance was doing it on purpose; to distract him and cheer him up. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the exhaustion, maybe it was pure chance – but it worked. Keith slowly felt himself relax.

Lance had set down his empty glass to enforce his words with hand-movement. Keith considered the blue eyes that kept flickering in his direction in hope of getting a response and watched the boy at his side, a proud male, make a fool of himself. _For him._ he didn’t know if or why he deserved that. Keith suddenly grinned, feeling something akin to happiness, before interrupting Lance’s word-flow.

“By the way, my name’s Keith.”

Lance’s hands stilled and he stared at him. Fearing, it might have been a bad idea to interrupt, Keith felt the heat in his neck rise when Lance didn’t say anything. Maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea at all.

“Did you understand me?!”, he started to shout, thinking; hoping, that maybe Lance simply didn’t hear him over the music.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh no worries, Lance had understood him alright. But then again, the connection between his brain and his mouth had just short-circuited at the sight of Keith’s smirk. It should really be illegal.

Lance immediately wished that Keith would scowl again – then he wouldn’t have to realize how pretty Keith actually is despite his ridiculous clothes. He already knew that Keith had beautiful eyes; knew how well his horrid (kidding) hair framed his pale skin and how his jawline was perfect; how kissable his lips appeared.

Those very same lips were slightly parted in confusion and his cheeks were flushed in either oncoming embarrassment or from the alcohol. Lance realized that Keith was _fucking sexy_.

As soon as it dawned on him, he groaned quietly. Now it all made sense.

He’s got it bad.

And he was prepared to wholeheartedly blame the mullet.

“Keith,” was all he managed to stutter out. A lame repetition of his name.


	4. Smitten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I've been working eight days straight and my back thanked me for it. Sitting at the PC was annoying, so when I finally figured out how to just chuck everything into dropbox and flop on my bed and write with my tablet, things suddenly became easier. Now I only need to get back on the PC for the editing, final touching and posting. I got nightshift next week, hopefully my patients are nice and calm; then I'll have lots of time to write ;3 the next chapter WILL be up on time (I'm half-way done with it *proud*).

Lance's mind was still spinning when Keith waved his hand in front of Lance’s face. He was apparently completely oblivious to the realization he just had.

Lance responded to Keith’s hand however, instinctively grabbing it. That caused him to startle and yank his hand away, making Lance feel guilty immediately.

"Sorry," he huffed out. Keith shook his hand.

"I was just worried, you sorta spaced out. You okay? Or was my name that much of a shock?" he suddenly teased and Lance refused to admit the truth (not just his name for God's sake) changing the topic.

"I’ll get us another drink."

"I don't want to drink too much," Keith tried to object. "I still need to get home somehow. And crashing my bike isn't on my top priority list ...," he murmurs. Lance waved his hand exasperated in order to ignore the pang of jealousy for everything that is on Keith's priority list. He should be on it too! He is the handsome _best friend to be_ after all!

"No problem, you can crash at my place... or just take a taxi!" Lance hurriedly added after Keith gave him a raised eyebrow. Lance scolded himself. Way to be weird he thought and suddenly felt very self-conscious. Prepping his best smirk, he stood up and spread his hands to his sides in a welcoming gesture.

"Anyway, you got no excuse to _not_ have some fun with me tonight." Lance declared, trying to act all natural.

Keith looked up to him, his eyebrows scrunched together once again.

"Why... would you do all that? For me?"

"Because I personally find that the _beautiful_ smile on your _gorgeous_ face is totally worth the hassle," was Lance's smooth and immediate reply; right before he blushed furiously. He should probably tone down the flirting, but with Keith he kind of just couldn't help himself. He wanted to drown Keith in compliments and let him know how stunning he was, that he was worth so much more than he seemed to believe himself.

Watching Keith and this Shiro, he had noticed that they must be close. Perhaps closer than Lance would have liked. He still didn't know the full extent of the relationship between Keith and Shiro, but it had been clear that Shiro was very dear to the indigo-eyed male.

He could relate to the pain Keith had felt. It was the pain of someone who was heartbroken. He'd gone through that himself not so long ago. But he had rebounded pretty fast thanks to his friends, especially Hunk and Pidge.

Keith didn't seem to have those friends.

Lance balled his hands to fists. How could this Shiro have hurt Keith so much? Rationally, he knew that Shiro probably hadn't meant to. But (thankfully) Shiro was the reason he was here with Keith; trying to make him forget that pain. For now, Lance would be content just seeing him smile; he would be content sitting close to him and have his full attention. Heck, he would be more than happy if Keith would agree to meet him again. Not that he would care; he'd track him down and stalk Keith anyway until he got his number (and he would sneak his way onto this priority list, accepting only the very top).

Lance still looked at Keith and watched him blink up at him with his god-damn long eyelashes. Then, as if Keith suddenly realized that Lance was actively flirting with him, his cheeks slowly turned pink.

_Oh god_ , it was too cute. Lance's grin only grew wider. So the tough guy couldn't handle being flirted with. He would bombard Keith with his great pick-up lines until he fell for him! For now, he skipped off to the bar to get some drinks; best they stock up in advance, then they wouldn't have to keep getting up or rather, he wouldn't have to keep leaving Keith alone on the couch. He was so good-looking; someone might try to hit on him. And he, the great Lance, would have none of that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith watched him leave, _again_ , seriously; Lance was so restless. Currently though, he was glad that his new blue-eyed acquaintance had left because his heart was still pounding. He tried to still it by discerning that Lance was just making fun of him. He couldn't lie to himself though, deep down he knew that Lance had meant it because he had looked at him so... _sincere_. As if he truly thought that Keith was gorgeous and that his smile was beautiful. Keith couldn't remember if anyone had ever told him that. Sure, Shiro had said that a smile suited him better than a scowl.  
But to have Lance say that to him... felt _good_.

Keith grabbed his drink and drunk the rest. He absently studied the glass and let the effects of the alcohol drown out his more serious thoughts. Lance flirted with him, so what? He had the type of attitude that would flirt with everything if that were possible. In fact, as his eyes followed Lance making his way to the blue bar, there were some girls that kept stopping Lance from making his order by talking to him. They engaged in a short conversation that resulted in the girls squealing and had them put their hands on their cheeks in order to hide the oblivious blush. When they finally left, Lance was able to get the drinks he wanted. Keith somehow didn’t know what to make of that, whether he should be annoyed or not.

He stood up when Lance came back with a tray carrying a mix of cocktails and shots. He helped Lance steady the tray onto the table and curiously looked at the mass of glass’ and liquids.

"I thought you wanted to cheer me up, not _kill_ me."

Lance only put his chin up and looked offended before downing a shot.

_**~45minutes later** _

“I already cheered you up plenty,” Lance suddenly declared with a lopsided smirk when he set down his fourth drink.

“Oh did you now?” Keith questioned while giving him a relaxed smirk. Lance, Keith had found out, talked _even more_ when he was drunk. He did not know that this was possible. Lance clearly developed logorrhea as soon as his intoxication reached a certain level.

By this time, he knew that Lance had a large family with six younger siblings and two older ones. He had a father and a mother, two different grandmothers, his grandfathers died already. He had an uncle and two aunts. It was a women-driven powerhouse.

Keith had felt jealous at first since he didn’t have a family to call his own. Lance obviously didn’t know that when he talked about his, but Keith couldn’t be mad with Lance, not when the younger man (they were apparently around eleven months apart) overflowed with love for his family. He hadn’t expected Lance to be so domestic.

“Yes. You smiled! And your smile is brighter than a lightsaber!” Lance added. Keith rolled his eyes. Apparently Lance was a StarWars fan. Keith wasn’t sure what to make of that. Sure, he loved space but the latest movie had been to mainstream.

“Not good?” Lance asked, interpreting his roll of eyes for something negative and thought for a moment.

“How about that: do you know Expelliarmus? Because your smile is _disarming_.”

Keith groaned and smacked his hand to his face to hide his blushing and confusion. He had no idea what the Expelliarmus was, but the latter sentence pretty much said it all.

“You _are_ making fun of me! What’s with the ridiculous pick-up lines when you’re drunk? Stop hitting on me!”

Lance only laughed heartily, cheeks flushed and pupils wide from the alcohol, before he pulled the whole tray to his side of the table when Keith tried to pick another drink.

“Uh…?” Keith questioned the blue-eyed boy irritably. In the light, Lance’s eyes seemed to sparkle. It was easy to drown in them when they were surrounded in the mainly blue LED’s light. The color seemed to shift with the flashing of the lights. He wondered what Lance’s real eye color would be in the sunlight. Keith could easily picture Lance at the beach. Chest bare, blue trunks and his bright grin... Keith shook his head. The alcohol was clearly getting to him too.

“I’ll let you have a drink every time you smile at me tonight. So better start smiling before your frown dries you up!”

“You just said I smiled!” Keith countered in a flash of anger.

Lance suddenly came very close. He supported his hands on Keith’s thigh and leaned in.

“Yeah, but I wanna to see you smiling all the time. I don’t want to have to count the smiles. They should come as natural to you as breathing. Especially when you’re with me. Wanna know why? ‘Cause I like you a lot Keith…,” Lance slurred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had some trouble with this chapter by trying to transition their feelings smoothly. Lance and Keith match perfectly though, both always seek the blame with someone else to make up for the lack of attention :3


	5. Starstruck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am truly soo sorry for the delay T-T I won't bother with excuses, I simply didn't have patience to edit until today. So much for the "the next chapter will be up on time"- theory. Don't worry if I don't update for a prolonged time, I definitely WILL finish my stories! The chapter is a bit longer to make up for it! 
> 
> I honestly don't know how long this fic will be, I started it on a whim and continued by focusing on details that are pointed out by you guys. With what I have planned there will probably be around another five chapters. I haven't written a draft or anything to follow, I mostly make it up as I write (part of the reason why the chapters take so long). If you have some prompts or wishes for either the story or for one shots, let me know and I'll see what I can whip up. I love your comments and hope I can do you all justice. Thank you for your patience and encouragement. I love you ^o^ :3

Keith stared wide-eyed at Lance, trying to comprehend. Time seemed to have stopped.

“W..what?”, Keith squeaked. He wasn’t sure why he felt so flattered and giddy. Could he take that serious? Like as a friend? Or Like like love? The situation was surreal. His mind was racing and he had trouble holding on to his thoughts.

Lance opened his mouth to say something. He looked unsure for a second, Keith noticed. Then a new song started playing and Lance was back to his own self. It looked forced though. Keith wondered if he had waited too long to reply. Reply what? He had no idea what to say really.

“I love that song!”, exclaimed Lance and pushed himself off of Keith to get up. He wobbly stood to climb on the table. Keith snapped into action and jumped up, reaching for his arm.

“Are you crazy?! It won’t hold, get down!”

“Easy babe, Blue’s tables and stages are my element. She won’t let me fall.”, Lance laughed and closed his eyes to focus on the song and shut Keith from his view.

Keith recognized it as the new song from The Weeknd; Starboy or something. It was a song about drugs, the harsh world and sexuality. It didn't fit Lance at all Keith thought. Lance symbolized lively songs about love, passion and life. But there he was, standing atop the table and swaying to the beat. He opened his eyes and grinned at Keith.

 _"I'm tryna put you in the best mood, ah_ ", he sang and Keith noted that Lance had altered the lyrics. He's looking at Keith, smiling, and he felt his face flush a violent red when he realized that Lance was apparently singing to him and him only.

 _"Made my whole year in this night too, yah"_ , Lance nearly moaned at the end of the sentence, regaining his usual confidence, and Keith suddenly grew really hot. Embarrassed, he blindly grabbed another glass and gulped it down without turning away. He was trapped in Lance's gaze and swallowed.

_"House so empty, I'll be your centerpiece"_ Lance winked at him and swayed his hips, placing his hands on each side and then cocking them to the beat. He knew the complete lyrics and rapped along, occasionally switching the lyrics to make them fit again. Lance looked good on stage, stunning even. His skin was illuminated in the white and blue from the clubs’s light. The fog machine was blowing mist, causing light refractions, that made him look ethereal, almost like he wasn't real. And again, Keith couldn't believe that this tanned wonderboy liked him. Hell, he hasn't even told him anything about himself yet. The only thing he knew about Keith was that he was a complete wreck. Crying after his first and only love. A love he thought he had long acquiesced. But tonight, he had been forced to realize that the green beast called Jealously still raged, wild and loud, within him.  


Keith was thrown off when Lance once arrived at the main refrain. By now he really _should_ have expected it.

_"Look what you've done  
I'm _in love_ with a starboy…"_

Keith spluttered and stared wide-eyed at Lance, who pointed finger-guns at him and then blew a shy kiss. This time he was too obvious for Keith to ignore. Lance meant every word. A Lance, who knew Keith for only a few hours but had done so much for him, more than anyone else had in a long time. Lance who had seen him at his worst but stayed. Lance who had pulled him out of his misery and made him laugh, made him almost forget Shiro. Lance, who had just confessed to him. Him, an orphaned nobody who’s an obstinate ball of anger. What did Lance see in him? He wanted to know. He wanted to know and understand what went on in Lance's head. Would Lance still like him if he knew that Keith doesn't know a thing about family bonds?

.

Lance stepped off the table when the song finished, guided by Keith's worried hand, and sank into the pillows next to him. He only rose again to grab a new drink and shoved it down his dry throat.

Keith took the empty glass from him. Anything to keep his awkward feelings at bay.

"Alright, enough is enough... You gotta take care of yourself."

"Why, I got you to do that?" came Lance's reply. By now Keith was almost prepared for the flirt attack and he growled before grinning slightly.

"Then you gotta let me do that and haul you out of here."  
“No need, I got my buddies here.”

Lance disregarded him and continued to hum to the beat of the next song, one that Keith recognized as Meghan Trainor’s new hit me too. That was more like Lance he thought to himself and chuckled. He nearly choked on that chuckle when Lance picked up on the sound and moved closer to him.

"That sounded so sweet..." he gushed happily and then yawned. Keith check his watch. It was already 3:30am.

"I really _should_ get you home, do you live far from here?"

"Nah... we can walk. It’s like five minutes down the street. Carry me bridal style?" Lance begged lazily and put up his hands which Keith took to pull him up.

"No way. You'll end up puking all over me."

"I'll have you know that I got a _really good_ self-control."

"I'd rather not test that theory but thank you.' he huffed when Lance leaned onto him. Keith put one arm around Lance waist and took his arm over his neck to be able to support him better.

He then started to steer the stumbling Lance out of the disco.

"You drank more than me, that’s no fair, why are you less drunk than me?" Lance complained.

Keith grinned. "I got a _better_ self-control it seems."

Lance rolled his eyes. "How did I come to like you again? When drunk you're a smartass jerk."

Keith scowled again. "I didn't ask you to. You did that yourself."

Lance smiled and leaned in. "Just kidding, I don't regret it at all.”

.

“Ah... fresh air..." Lance breathed.

Keith jolted when the cool air hit his flushed face like a wet towel. Both were engulfed in silence once the clubs door closed behind them. His ears needed to adjust after being subjected to hours of blaring music. He could hear a faint drizzle when he realized that it was no simple drizzle, it was pouring down. Lance suddenly squealed in utter delight. "RAIN!!" he shouted into the dark nothingness, right into Keith’s ear.

"Jesus Lance, could you be a little louder please? I don't think the Stars heard you."

Lance laughed with rosy cheeks and took a deep breath. Keith leaned forward and... placed his hand on his mouth.

"I was kidding. _Please don't_. Everyone heard you."

Keith let go off Lance’s mouth when he felt him licking his palm.

“Ugh, what the hell?!”

The slightly taller boy laughed and let go of him to stagger onto the empty street. He ignored Keith’s watchful gaze. He stretched out his arms to his side and welcomed the cool droplets of water on his flushed skin and let himself be drenched.

“I really love water you know? It washes away everything… pain, fears, the old and end only to replace it with new life. Kinda like spring. It renews,” he rambled and closed his eyes. He apparently didn’t notice that his balance was way off until he fell and Keith had to surge forward to catch him.

“If you keep that up only your chances of getting bruises will grow.” He scolded the blue eyed and helped him straighten himself. “Which way?”

“This way my dear Mullet;” he teased and with Keith’s help he moved along the road, leading him to his apartment.

.

The walk would really have taken only five minutes, had it not been for Lance practically dragging his feet the whole time. Keith was unnerved, wet to the core and tired by the time they reached the tall building.

“Which floor?”

“Fifth.”

“You’re kidding,” he cursed and helped Lance put the key into the keyhole, effectively opening the door. The rain had stopped five minutes ago and Keith couldn’t wait to finally get his hands on a towel to dry himself.

“Pleeease tell me you at least have a lift.” “Of course not! This house is too old for that.”

Keith suppressed another curse and hauled Lance up to the fifth floor. He was sweating and shivering by the time they arrived. Impatient, he opened the door himself now, eager to make up for the lost time. A quick check on his watch told him that they indeed taken thirty minutes just to walk to Lance’s apartment and reach his floor. Unbelievable.

Lance didn’t bother switching the light on. He just immediately steered towards what Keith presumed was his bedroom, opened the door and flopped down on his mattress with a content sigh.

Keith followed and stood awkwardly in the door, before searching for the bathroom. It was a small apartment. It had a separate kitchen, a small living room, a bathroom with a bathtub/shower and a small bedroom. In the dim light, it was difficult to see. Once he found the bathroom, he flicked the switch and grabbed two towels that were neatly folded on the washing machine. Lance was surprisingly neat. He wondered if that was because of his siblings. One towel was used to dry his hair and clothes. The other he threw on Lance’s head for him to dry himself. He watched the still figure on the bed, wondering if Lance was already asleep.

“Alright. I’ll… get going now. Good night”, he whispers and turned to leave. Rustling could be heard and in the next moment he felt Lance grab his hands, before being pulled back- and downwards onto the mattress.

“You are not leaving me now”, Lance complained. “You’re staying here until I am sober and get the chance to ask you for your number and address. Besides, are you really going home?” Lance queries quietly while making himself comfortable on Keith’s chest. Keith turned his head to avoid Lance’s stern gaze. He knew what Lance was talking about.

“Shiro won’t be home.”, he lied; knowing better though. Shiro was probably waiting right now for Keith to come back. So that they would talk. Shiro would apologize for not telling him and feel guilty about it. And then Keith would feel guilty for making Shiro guilty and forgive him.

Lance poked his cheek painfully and Keith growled in surprise.

“Stay here. Just until tomorrow. You’ll only regret going home and facing him,” he earnestly whispered and Keith suddenly wasn’t sure anymore if Lance was ever truly drunk or if he just sobered up in a matter of minutes.

“If you insist… will you get off me now?”

“I do insist and no freaking way, you’re bony but really warm.” Lance yawned and pulled his blanket over the two of them. He put his wet head on Keith’s chest and closed his eyes. He completely ignored Keith’s protest and the latter soon gave up.

.

“Hey Lance?”, he whispered after some time.

“mmh?” came the drowsy reply.

“Did you mean that? About liking me?”

“Yeah I did…”

“Why? You don’t know me at all.”

“Because you’re kind as hell.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Shut up, of course I do.”

“No, you don’t.”

Lance slowly opened his eyes and glared at Keith, who was a bit taken aback.

“You went to a club in the middle of the night to find your friend, worried he might be drunk and in trouble, only to find out that he found himself a girlfriend and didn’t tell you. You had feelings for that asshole but didn’t tell him that you still do and probably never will. Sure, you made a small scene but ultimately you left them alone to be happy and tried to bear the suffering on your own. You endured me for more than four hours upon meeting me for the first time, that’s a new record by the way, and even bothered to drag my sorry ass to my apartment because you couldn’t just leave me drunk and alone at my **place of work** where I know literally everyone. You are the kindest bastard I’ve ever met and couldn’t help falling for you. Okay? Now _shut up_ and sleep,” having said that, he closed his eyes again and fell asleep just like that, his breath slowly evening out.

Through the windows came the shine from the now clear sky, its stars and the moon. They danced on Lance’s wet hair and Keith smiled a little. His chest felt warm where Lance’s body lay. He really was beautiful, both inside and outside.

In the quiet of the night he finally had time to sort through his thoughts. Only to reach the conclusion that maybe liking Lance back wasn’t such a bad idea. He might be the one to help him get over Shiro. He might be the one to convince him that he deserved being loved. But he would have to insist on calling him his starboy and not the other way around. Because Lance was _his_ star, bright and firm. Casting light on a new road that Keith was suddenly eager to try and take.

“Good night Lance…”, Keith whispered quietly and nearly missed the smile that spread over Lance’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was so impatient with this chapter, the whole song was the reason I actually started this FF or why I started FF's in general; simply because I misheard the lyrics. I'm the kind of person that listens to the music before bothering to read the lyrics. Once I read the text I realized that he isn't singing "I'm in love with a starboy" but "I'm a motherfucking starboy" and from then on I never heard it the "wrong" way again. But the idea stuck and this was born. 
> 
> I was wondering who should sing it to who. Lance to Keith or Keith to Lance. The lyrics fit Lance, but the song itself fits Keith better. I hope you agree with how I did it in the end, and if not, then that's fine. It works both ways :D 
> 
> And don't worry, we will spend some time in the club again. That wasn't the end of it :3


	6. Past, Present and Future Bonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My next few days will look like this: 8 days work in a row, 2 days free, 9 days in a row, 1 day free and then another 4 days before I finally, finally have my long awaited vacation time (first since April). Afterwards writing will be my priority. Until then, I can't guarantee for the updates to be regular :/ I'll try my best though! ^^
> 
> Warning: This hasn't been properly edited yet. I am dead tired but I wanted to at least get the chapter out there. I'll edit it tomorrow after work. Cheers.

Lance woke up with a sneeze. He absently rubbed his nose and yawned, when he realized that something was off. Underneath him was something warm, like a body. Upon opening his eyes, he shrieked and jerked away hastily.

The said body, belonging to Keith, jolted upright, brandishing a _FUCKING_ knife in his hand. He glanced around, prepared to defend himself.

“What’s wrong?”, Keith hissed when he realized that there was no danger, tension seeping out of his body as relaxation set in.

“What is wrong!? You’re in my bed, my room, my apartment! With a freaking knife! Are you trying to kill me?”, Lance freaked out. “Did you have that in the club?! _How the hell _did you get past the bouncers?!”  
__

Keith eyed him with a blank look and sheathed the knife behind his back.

“I brought you here last night, you _forced_ me to stay here! And yes, I had that in the club. I’m not going anywhere without it.”

Blinking heavily, Lance willed himself to remember. And indeed, he recalled telling Keith to stay after he had walked him home. This and something else…. oh… OH! Well, _shit_.

“Um… Right. I remember that. Thanks for staying. I’m uh.. gonna go shower, and then I’ll make breakfast and then… we’ll see. Don’t leave just yet! I’ll hunt you down.”

Blessing Lance with an endearing grin, Keith nodded and lay down again. On _HIS_ bed. His pale skin looked so soft and his abs were surprisingly chiseled... Abs? Where was his shirt? Lance gave his room a small look over until he found Keith’s shirt hanging over his chair. Apparently to dry. On top of the shirt lay Keith’s jeans. Leaving Lance to see Keith draped in _his_ blanket, on _his_ bed with probably nothing more than boxers.

Lance excused himself with a small whine and disappeared into the bathroom. He quickly undressed and stepped into the shower, wasting no time to turn on the water. Yelping when the water came cold, he considered stepping out of the spray right away again. But it cooled him off. Both his face and well… his erection that he needed to hide from Keith. So he stayed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith flopped back onto the bed in the meantime and stared at the wall. Lance was acting strange, Keith worried that Lance might have forgotten about last night. Or worse, that Keith just imagined everything and that he was in the wrong. Placing his fist on his forehead, he willed himself to breath more slowly. Calm and calculated puffs of air circulated in his lungs, giving him the chance to feel control. He was worrying too much he thought.

Curiosity took the best of him and he peeked underneath his arm towards the bathroom door, where the running water could still be heard. Keith blushed at the thought of a showering Lance. When Lance walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel around his hip, loosely held by his hand, Keith knew that he was doomed.

Lance looked at him and seemed to realize just how naked he was. Keith couldn’t help but chuckle when lance quickly fled into the room next door and started to shuffle around for any clothes he could cover himself half-way decently with. Not that Keith would mind seeing Lance like that a bit longer. He needed to know if Lance remembered.

“uh.. hey Lance?” Upon calling him out, he could hear how the rustling in the other room stilled. It was easier to just speak when he didn’t have to look and Lance’s face. He took his quiet as an invitation to proceed with his question.

“So do you.. uh.. remember everything from last night? Like our conversation after we arrived here? Not just the staying-here-part. More than that…,” Keith didn’t notice how his own voice grew softer.

A few more beats of silence didn’t help to calm his mind when lance finally reappeared in the doorway looking all red-faced and embarrassed.

“O..of course I remember,” he conceded with a high-pitched voice, glaring Keith down in a weak attempt to keep eye-contact. It didn’t last long before Lance looked away, muttering something in what Keith recognized must be Spanish.

“You do?”

“Yes. I.. confessed to you.”

“Do you still mean it?” Keith winced at how harsh he sounded. But he needed to know, he was so close to letting Lance in, but he wouldn’t be able to take another heartbreak. He couldn’t, no, didn’t want to feel another disappointment. He didn’t want to feel pain again, he’d rather shut his emotions completely, if that would be what it took to survive living.

He watched Lance flinch at his words, confused, even a bit hurt. His posture faltered for a bit. Lance was seeking his eyes to find out what had made Keith say that. Not knowing what conclusion he reached, Lance straightened his back.

“I do. You’re special to me, in a way I cannot explain properly. I won’t speak of love right away; it takes time and needs to be nurtured. But I do know that I can love you… if you’ll let me Keith.”

Keith’s breath hitched at the sincerity of his words. It was an invitation, a plea to respond to his feelings. Was he going to do it? Was he going to let Shiro out by letting Lance in? Deep down, he already knew the answer. He’d been brooding over the topic “Lance” for hours. Back in the club where he watched Lance’s silhouette dancing, on the way home where Lance’s eyes reflected the rain and lying on Lance’s bed, watching his strands of hair glisten in the starlight.

He let go of a breath he hadn’t remembered to have held in the first place. Keith gave Lance an unsure smile.

“I think… I do. If you’ll have me Lance.”

Both were startled when a mobile went off. Suddenly both were laughing too, because Lance’s ringtone just had to be “Love is in the air”. Lance grabbed his phone, picking up in the process, and held it to his ear.

“Lance the Tailor, at your service? You're disrupting a very important moment in my life.”, he grinned before paling. Keith heard angry shouting from the speakers and chuckled when Lance had to tear his mobile from his ear to avoid going deaf early in his life.

“P..pidge… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you guys worry. I’m sorry, no, I’m fine. I’m at home. Yeah, I kinda…. Got involved in something. No everything is fine. Mystery man is fine too… VERY fine…”, Lance blushed and cursed at nearly the same time.

“I’m hanging up now Pidge!”, he declared and quickly ended the call.

Keith quirked an eyebrow. “Am I the mystery man?”

“Yeah… Pidge saw us leave and heard from Hunk that he made the Cheer-Up drink. Pidge is curious, beware. Once she knows your name, she’ll know everything starting with your birth certificate right up to your last meal.”

Keith remained silent at that. A birth certificate, huh? That would be kind of awesome.

He didn’t know how long he spaced out before he felt Lance’s not so gentle nudge.

“So… are you going to tell me why you have a knife on you?”

Keith laughed out loud. He must’ve scared Lance more than he thought. But he appreciated Lance’s try to distract him.

“I always keep it with me for protection. I never know what or who I might have to defend.”

“So…. you’re saying that you carry a knife not for yourself but for others?”

“Sort of I guess.”

“Refresh my fuzzy memory, what did I say about you being kind?”

“Shut up.”

“No really, what is the history of the knife? You don’t have to tell me, but I’d like to know.”

.

Keith watched Lance sit on the empty space on the bed next to him. Sitting himself, they both were some mere centimeters apart.

“I…”

Keith faltered.

It was _personal_.

Telling the story about the knife would lead to questions, and answering them only meant more questions and further stories. It meant giving Lance the opportunity to judge him. To pity him. But what choice did he really have? Lance had told him a lot about himself and his family.

He could have second-thoughts after hearing Keith’s story, and decide that he was not worth it after all. Maybe telling Lance now would spare him later pain.

Keith may have agreed to try letting himself be loved by Lance, but that meant that Lance had a right to know more about him. It meant that Keith would need to _trust_ Lance. And he would.

He could see that Lance was trying to be so patient when he clearly wasn’t.

Keith smiled a little and took the knife into his hands. He felt Lance tense beside him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lanced eyed the knife warily, at the same time fascinated, by the ornate, delicate symbols on both the handle and the glittering blade. Keith’s brows were creased, deep in thought and Lance almost regretted asking when Keith suddenly spoke. His voice was so quiet. _Broken_. It reminded him of the moment in the club where Keith ran away from Shiro.

“This knife… is the only thing they found to be in my possession when they first found me. It was sheathed and I cradled it in my arms. I wouldn’t let go of it.”

Now it was his turn to furrow his brows. He didn’t like where the story was going.

“When… _who _found you?” Lance was confused. People weren’t just randomly “found” with a knife in their blanket, unless… did that mean?  
__

“A random couple. I… was abandoned by my parents as a nearly newborn and left to die in a worn-down alleyway, hidden between rubbish-filled bags. Pinned to the knife was a paper with the words “I’m not worth living – Keith Kogane. That’s how I came to be named.”

Lance gasped.  


_“WHAT?!”_ Rage exploded in his stomach and he clenched his fists. How could anyone even dare to think that, let alone “curse” a toddler with such cruelty?

Keith paused for a second before continuing.

“The couple brought me to a doctor, who after declaring me healthy, took me to a foster home. It was the first of a few. I have Asian features. That apparently attracted assholes. My first three families were all abusive. I was with them for two years the most. The foster home gave up and transferred me to a new one. I was too difficult to handle. By the time I was seven I’d been returned from my sixth family.

The problem was always me. Never the families. Picking fights with siblings or neighbors I was supposed to cherish. I wasn’t grateful enough. I taught myself how to read and buried myself in books. I was tired of leaving and returning to the foster home. With eight, I knew that I would never find a family that would let me stay. At the age of thirteen I landed in another abusive and broken family. Only this time I defended myself with my knife. I learned how to fight and got myself kicked out of the family after injuring my step-dad’s arm badly.

I ran away from my third foster home with fifteen. I was living in the streets for a couple of months before I found a small job and a shack that I made my home. My shelter. I used to steal money when the hunger became too strong near the end of the month. The job I had wasn’t paying enough to cover bills and food. I moved with some groups, making small coordinated heists.

That is how I met Shiro. I was eighteen by now. Basically I tried to rob him. With the downside that he caught me. Instead of turning me to the police though, he offered me a better job and an apartment to share with him. He was the first person to really look at me. To see _me_ and remotely understand how I worked. To try and find out what drove me forward.  
…Maybe it never was true love that I felt, maybe it was more of an admiration I feel towards him. Perhaps out of sheer gratefulness. I don’t know. I feel silly telling you all of this…” Keith mumbled and dared to look at him for the first time.

Lance had remained silent through the whole story; trying to comprehend what Keith just told him. That he grew up an orphan, bouncing between families, stealing to survive, never having someone to like him until he met Shiro who took care of him and slowly dragged him out of his lonely hell. Only to push him off the cliff again by going behind his back with Allura.

Lance closed his eyes. He couldn’t imagine it. Just the thought of being alone, without his noisy but lovable family hurt him too much.

It was too sad.

He could understand why Keith was so distrustful. Rather, he suddenly felt elated and pained because Keith had actually opened up to him. Knowing that Lance might just be another person to hurt him. After everything that life that thrown at him, Keith still wanted to trust.

Lance opened his eyes to see Keith nervously kneading his hands, waiting for a sign from him. A rejection he realized. He was afraid that he would shove him, unwanted. Like the piece of garbage everyone wanted him to believe he is. Slowly reaching out, he grabbed his mullethead and pulled the startled man into his arms. He held him close.

“Thank you for telling me… I won’t leave,” he whispered gently, feeling the tremor that rocked Keith’s body. He did his best to provide comfort and gently stroked his back.

.

Lance didn’t know how long he held him. At one point, they got up and had breakfast together. Lance made the (in his opinion) best fried eggs and whipped up some edible orange juice to go with it. He would spoil Keith. He caught the mullet checking his phone occasionally, a slight scowl on his face.

He grabbed the phone from him when he caught him the next time and ignored Keith’s threatening growl.

Shiro had left 47 calls and 24 messages.

Lance ignored it as best as he could and instead opened the list of contacts, adding his own number. He then proceeded to send himself a message, smiling and satisfied when his own mobile beeped with a new message from an unknown number.

Just in time too, because Keith lunged at him the next moment and wrestled his phone from his hands.

That didn’t stop his smug grinning when he watched Keith process what Lance has done. Even laughing when Keith let out a groan.

“What the… Lance would have sufficed! Did you seriously just save yourself as _King Lance aka. The Tailor_ in my contacts?! “

Lance gave Keith a kiss on the cheek, startling him. His mulletboy may have had a rough past. He may have it rough now. But he sure would _try_ and make it better for him. To give him the family he never had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance finally learns more about his Keith. Thank god he got his number, now he won't need to stalk him. He can simply annoy him to death with messages and phonecalls. :3


	7. Domesticity (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God it's been ages. So much for vacation. So much good and bad happened that I was barely at my tablet or computer. Now I'm back to work. I love you all- for both your patience and for reading this.  
> Happy holidays to you - I hope you're happy where you are. If you need someone to talk to you over the festive days because you're alone or lonely; send me a tweet on @fortressen - I'll be happy to engage in conversation since most of my patients will be sleeping. 
> 
> I wanted to at least post what little I have written to give you something to read. I actually am like 2 chapters further, but I felt I was jumping the relationship so I wanted to fill it with a buffer to make the transitions more smooth and natural. Even though Lance is quick assess one's feelings and has the overwhelming urge to make everyone feel at ease, Keith isn't one to adapt so quickly in my opinion.

Keith had been staying at Lance’s apartment for nine days now without any proper contact to Shiro. He quieted the messages and calls by typing a quick “I’m staying at a friend’s house. I’ll talk to you when I’m ready.” He hadn’t read any of the messages so far or bothered opening Shiro’s reply either. It was the last message he received. Since then Shiro hadn’t texted anything. He seemed to have understood to leave him alone.

Keith had grown closer to Lance in the meantime. The club was closed for two weeks until the next friday, giving Lance plenty of time to spend with Keith. The Saturday after Keith had spilled his life story was spent in quiet harmony. They went to a nearby supermarket and bought food and some clothes for Keith. Lance had decided to accommodate him for the time being and refused to let him go anywhere else before Keith had even finished the mere suggestion of leaving. After shopping, they had cooked dinner. Well... Keith had peeled the potatoes with his knife and placed the plates, cutlery and glasses onto the table. Lance did the cooking. He was an unbelievable cook. The food looked like something out of a restaurant. And tasted like that too.

Afterwards Lance had made space on his bed and added a second pillow and blanket. He refused to share a blanket with Keith and boldly stated that Keith's silky skin and chiseled muscles would rob him of his beauty sleep if he felt them so close next to him. He needed the blanket as a protective barrier.

Keith had actually laughed at that while also blushing furiously. They went to bed sharing a few chaste kisses, both too shy to do anything else. Lance fell asleep first and Keith spent some time watching him before drifting to sleep.

  


**Monday:**

That was the day Keith found out that Lance hated getting up early. It was ten in the morning. Keith had been up since five-thirty. Old habits die hard, being one who always had to get up early because of his job at the car mechanic. Changing into his new running clothes Keith had gone out the house for an hour to jog. He jogged in the opposite direction of where he'd usually jog and the bought buns for breakfast. He'd done the same when he lived with Shiro. Returning home, he took a short shower and left his hair to air-dry. Afterwards set up the table for breakfast, even making half- burnt eggs, and then called his boss to both quit his job and call sick for the whole week. Shiro had organized him a job there. Shiro loved his job. But Keith couldn't bear to work there anymore. He'd find himself another job. For now, he had enough money saved to support himself for a while. Of course, it didn't take long for Shiro to send a message again. Probably because the boss told him that Keith had quit. Keith ignored that message too and went to wake up Lance.

Lance slapped his face, _hard_.

He didn't mean too obviously - but it still hurt and Keith's left cheek ended up swollen and irritable to the touch, just like Keith's mood.

His boyfriend just clambered out of bed and disappeared into the bathroom without saying a word. With no choice but to go into the kitchen and grab a coolpack to prevent the swelling from worsening, Keith decided to let the warm food grow cold. Warm food wasn't worth the slapping. He ate his warm share alone and simply not care.

Lance didn't even start to apologize until he had finished his beauty routine and was remotely awake enough to realize what he had done.

  


"Geez, what happened to your face?"

Keith raised an eyebrow.

"You did? You _slapped me like a girl_ when I tried to wake you up for breakfast!." he scowled at him.

Lance scratched behind his ear.

"Oh. I guess my love for sleep outweighs my love for you."

"Great to hear, really." he deadpanned and Lance cringed.

"I'm sorry, really. Oh, what’s that smell? Eggs? You made fried eggs! That's cool, let me dig in!"

“…”

"They're cold!" Lance complained a second after putting the fork in his mouth and Keith couldn't help but stare at him in disbelieving anger.

  


**Tuesday:**

Keith found out that Lance had a really bad habit of singing really badly in the shower. He didn't notice on Monday because he was too busy cooling his cheek and muttering about how to kill Lance.

It was horrid. His toenails curled and his neck hair stood on all ends. In a desperate attempt to drown out the atrocity he took his mobile phone and turned up the volume of the first song he found. Anything to quiet Lance’s singing attempt.

They went to the movies that evening to watch the animated movie Sing. Lance sang the songs he had already recognized and memorized all the way home. Keith just wanted to die.


	8. Domesticity (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone! :3 I hope to write a lot this year and improve myself. I haven't checked this chapter for mistakes yet, but I'm too eager to post it :D I will read through it later this evening. I wrote the chapter on the tablet and it doesn't correct the word like my PC does. But I'm not at home yet -_- That's why I'll do it later.  
> As always, let me know what you think :3

**Wednesday:**  
Lance found out that Keith was really great with fixing stuff, almost rivalling his best friend Hunk. When the television started to make small noises and then promptly shut itself off, Lance had thrown a fit because it happened in the middle of his favorite telenovela (it didn't matter that it was being recorded).

Keith only bothered to come out of the kitchen when Lance called for him - he had learned that Lance was being noisy over every single thing - be it a passing bird by the window or a bubble in the soup.

"What's wrong?"

"WHAT'SWRONG? The TV broke and I can't watch my show! I need a new one! Right now! Immediately!" yelled the rather hysterical Lance.

Keith rolled his eyes and went to the TV. He tried switching it on - and it did. Back was the telenovela and Lance was staring at Keith like some god he had to worship.

"You fixed it!"

"I pressed a button and switched it on", Keith deadpanned.

"No, you fixed it! It was broken and now it's working again!"

Keith didn't bother to try and convince Lance otherwise. He returned to the kitchen, peeling potatoes and cooking for the two of them.

  
**Thursday:**

Keith was a great cook, so was Lance. Keith insisted on cooking to thank Lance for letting him stay. Lance insisted on cooking to keep Keith here by charming him into staying. Their bantering slowly started to become routine. It was a pleasant routine though.

Currently Lance had control of the fridge, refusing to budge when Keith wanted to take his ingredients out of it.

"Move Lance."

"No", he pouted. "I want to be the one who cooks. Its my apartment, my fridge, my utensils and I'm not letting my guest cook another meal. Even though yesterdays was delicious - but you tricked me into letting you cook while I was watching my telenovela."

"You're being childish Lance, move and let me cook. I already started anyway."

When Lance refused to budge, Keith decided it was time for plan B. He darted forward and kissed Lance on the mouth. Lance froze up immediately, giving Keith the chance to just lift Lance up and set him aside. He released his lips from the brunettes and opened the fidge, leaving Lance to gape like a drowing fish.

"You _kissed_ me!" he exclaimed.

"Yup, I could have just slapped you - I might have even apologized afterwards", he stabbed. Lance rolled his eyes at that. "You still haven't forgiven me that?"

"No, and I'm not sure I ever will", he replied sourly but with a chuckle.

Lance shook his head. "Hey, I got an idea, how about we cook together? With our skills we'd be the ultimate cooking team. Keith n' Lance - the neck to neck super team."

Keith smiled fondly. "That might be your best idea yet."

Grinning brightly, Lance took his new favorite place, next to Keith, and joined his cooking.

Obviously, with two skilled cooks - the food tasted great and they promised to each other to repeat that. Keith did ask Lance though if he could refrain from singing and swinging his hips while cooking. It was just too sexy and had resulted in Keith cutting his finger - due to his distraction.

  
**Friday:**  
On friday, Keith tried to recount what he had learned about Lance so far and made a list.  
Lance:

\- cooks  
\- dances  
\- sings (horrible when in the shower and great when Keith is drunk and with Lance in the club)  
\- watches dramatic telenovelas in both english and spanish - mainly spanish for the drama effects  
\- watches too much television  
\- has two best friends calles Hunk and Pidge, both of whom work at Voltron too  
\- a family guy (often calls his mother)  
\- knows spanish (god how sexy he sounds)  
\- needs beautysleep (do not disturb)  
\- probably spends more time in the bathroom than any girl  
\- clumsy (but cute)  
\- honest  
\- secretely intelligent  
\- beautiful  
\- sports lazy (perhaps I can fix that)  
\- 100% trustworthy  
\- knows me better than I do? (I should be worried)  
\- has a job in a club  
\- has lots of free time?  
\- has a huge family  
\- has a lot of sides that I still don't know  
\- childish (annoying ~~sometimes~~ always)

When Keith had finished his list he stared at it for a while. Hesitating, he lifted the pen once more and added one last point.

_\- loves me_

  
**Saturday:**

Lance's alarm rang and he stood up straight away. Keith couldn't help but stare. What was happening? Lance usually ignored the alarm clock for at least an hour.

"I need to pack...", he mumbled and scrambled around, stuffing his clothes and stuff in a bag.

"What for?" Keith asked quite irritated.

"We're going to visit my family. It's the weekend I have off work. It's a duty."

Keith nearly fell out of the bed. "What do you mean WE'RE going?"

"Exactly that, I'm not leaving you here. You're my boyfriend, my Mama want's to meet you. I already told her about you. I can't just not bring you, she'll kill me and then drive here to get you herself."

Keith could only chuckle and swallowed his feelings. Lance had told his mother about him. She wanted to meet him, involve him and meet the family. It was nice. And scary. Mostly scary. Because Lance knew that Keith had nowhere to go.

Slowly getting up, Keith showered bevor dressing and moved to go into the kitchen when Lance suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him close.

"Don't worry. They are all nice, I'll be right there with you."

Lance, Keith realized, held onto him whenever he thought about running. Keith wondered if he was being plain obvious or if Lance was exceptionally perceptive - Or if it was a rare combination of both. Because Lance was right, Keith was currently very anxious and his mind was frantically searching for excuses so he wouldn't habe to go.

He felt like he knew Lance for years, and it had barely been a week. getting someone to know him so well and so fast was unsettling. He felt naked, his inner self on display, unsure and at a loss at how to respond to Lance and to his own feelings. He liked Lance, a lot. THAT he was sure of. So he let Lance guide him and if Lance wanted him to meet the family, Keith would certainly try to not disappoint him.

"Okay. Thank you Lance", Keith whispered. His voice was warm, sincere and very soft. Lance smiled and gave Keith a kiss on the cheek, too shy to do more.

"No problem. It's quite a drive, We'll leave tonight and arrive early morning."


	9. Sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back. Thanks for all the vacation wishes AND for your patience. Real life has been a real bother recently with family issues popping up from all sides. I also signed up for zines and BigBangs that are time consuming and I spent as much time on them as I did on Starboy since March. So up until now, nearly no time at all.
> 
> As previously promised (before entering hiatus stage if you follow my twitter) I've linked this chapter to the next since it's a double update. So everyone getting notifications of the new chapter will get a hint to read this one first.

Keith had been to visit Shiro's family once. It was a traditional Japanese family with rules and quiet respect. It was warm, loving and respectful, but even a whole life with Shiro's family could not have prepared him for Lance's.

It was Sunday, and according to Lance, his family held an obligatory family lunch once a month. Everyone within a hundred-mile radius had to come if they didn't have a valid excuse (the only one being work). Apparently, one uncle named Alejandro had once been too ill to come himself, so the family drove two hours -one way- to pick him (and his car) up and take care of him until he was better and could drive back home.

Keith nearly chickened out last night and told Lance he would stay home, but Lance was adamant about taking Keith with him. He said something about needing him to learn what a family is like, especially now that they were an item. Keith gave up trying to explain to Lance that he didn't need to go through the effort and that Keith preferred to avoid crowds (the family lunch apparently involved at least fifty participants). He found it was way too early to meet any family members and felt a bit rushed. Keith liked his quiet and decided by himself when to take the next step. They weren’t even a month together, and he was being introduced to the family. He was doing the very same thing he always told others was unrealistic. Lance didn’t give him the space he needed, so he was panicking.

Anyhow, Lance had crushed any excuses he tried to give and dragged Keith into the car. He even went as far as to lock the door so his mullet-head wouldn't think of jumping out of the car mid-drive. They arrived at six in the morning, after taking a break every thirty minutes because Lance lacked the concentration and he refused to let Keith drive. The latter was both tired and annoyed because the drive could have easily taken half the time had he been the one to drive.

The first thing that came to mind upon arriving was how LOUD it was. How come there were so many people awake at this hour? The building trembled with the rush of footsteps. The second thing Keith noticed, was the chaos that unravelled as soon as Lance rang the doorbell and announced himself. Tempted to cover his ears, all Keith could do was jump out of the way in time, when the uncontrollable mass broke out of the small building. He couldn't fathom where they all fit inside. Probably stacked on top of each other and with shared rooms. The raven-haired man stood at the side, watching the squirming pile that had Lance buried underneath. He was contemplating running. Lance wouldn't be able to stop him at the moment. But just as he mulled over the thought, a strong grip on his shoulder forced him to snap back to reality.

A woman his height stood in front of him. The same tanned skin like Lance, the same blue eyes, just as striking and all-seeing. He swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing slightly when she eyed him with a harsh stare. She was a woman who shouldn't be angered.

“You must be Keith” she guessed, and when he gave an affirmative nod, she smiled.

“I am Lance’s mother, Rosa. Nice to meet you, Keith.”

With that, she pulled him into a soft hug, and Keith couldn’t help feeling like he’d passed some unknown test. Her glare was gone, and he wasn’t sure if he’d just imagined everything. Hugging him was a woman that wouldn’t be able to hurt a fly. The change was rather frightening.

“Come inside. Lance, you too. Chop Chop!” Lance’s mum proceeded to order after letting go of him and clapped her hands to make her point clear. By command, everyone hurried inside while still chatting and laughing.

Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and pulled him into the house.

Once inside, Keith’s mouth widened in awe. The house, which looked small from the outside, offered a lot of space. The walls were plastered with family pictures, all the way to the ceiling. There was hardly a sport left. He paled when he recognised a poorly printed selfie that he and Lance’s had made.

“You sent her that?”, he asked, completely incredulous and Lance laughed.

“She wanted a picture, and that was the only decent one we made together. I mean, I have a bunch of pictures that I secretly made of you, but I liked this one best. And this way she believed me that you aren’t just some crush.”

Keith groaned in embarrassment.

“Come on, I’m hungry for some breakfast.”

  
~~  
During breakfast, Keith heard so many names and the relation to Lance, he couldn’t possibly remember it all the first time. To avoid any mistakes, he tried to stay quiet. Lance’s family kept dragging him into conversations though and asked about his opinion on various topics, much like Lance. It was impossible to miss the similarity. Lance’s six younger siblings all looked very similar, even the girls. The youngest, four-year-old Emma kept staring at Keith, even dropping her food which she absentmindedly stuffed into her mouth every so often. Keith resisted the urge to wipe her mouth, it wasn’t his business, but she started to look ridiculous with her breakfast smeared around her mouth.

Mama Rosa eventually seemed to

think the same and wiped Emma’s mouth clean.

“Eat properly, dear”, she softly chastised, and Emma quickly nodded.

“Yes, Mama.”

“How do you like the food, Keith?” Rosa asked, and Keith nodded politely, but tired.

“It’s very good, thank you.”

“Thank you. You look tired, you both should rest. Lance, show him your room.”

Lance, who was dozing off, startled and nodded.

“Yes Mama, thanks” he yawned and stood up. Taking his dishes, he carried them to the sink and quickly cleaned them. Keith watched him and then went to do the same. Afterwards, Lance guided him up the stairs. Keith was amazed at the number of rooms the house had and was pretty sure he could end up entering the wrong room by mistake. He stuck close to Lance who entered a small room. On the door hung a brightly coloured sign with Lance’s name. Relief flooded through him, as long as he could still read, he would find Lance’s room.

“That’s my room and our bed for the day”, he introduced before dropping onto the mattress, completely worn out. Lance closed his eyes and smiled at the familiar smell.

Keith stood there, feeling a little awkward.

Lance noticed Keith’s hesitation when he lifted his head to look at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I.. don’t want to intrude”, he admitted.

Lance shook his head and pulled Keith down beside him.

“You’re not intruding.”

“But I feel like I am. You’re so loved and everything…”

“You are loved too. They will all love you. You’re part of me, so you’re part of the family” Lance reaffirmed and ruffled Keith’s soft black hair.

Keith stayed quiet, touched by Lance’s sweet assurance and because his family had as much love to offer as his boyfriend did.

“Thank you. That… means a lot. It does seem overkill though, considering the time we’ve been together.”

Lance chuckled at that.

“Relationships are not defined by time alone. The amount of trust you place in the beginning will later decide the length.”

Keith shook his head.

“Or hurt even more when disappointed. Look, there is always two sides of a coin. You obviously have the positive side, while I’m more negative.”

“I know that, Keith. That doesn’t stop me from convincing you that the positive side isn’t so bad. I’ll continue to support you anyway. It’s a lot from me, asking you to meet my family. But they are a part of me. If you put up with me, you’ll eventually have to put up with them as well. Consider it a warning from my side. Now you have the chance to back out of the relationship. From now on, you can’t say that you didn’t know what was coming.”

Lance sounded so serious suddenly that Keith didn’t know how to reply. Lance was basically asking him to either stay or go. Fortunately, he didn’t have to. The door burst open and Penny, his aunt’s daughter burst in. She looked at them expectantly. Only to become upset.

“You aren’t kissing like Jenna said!”

Both blushed furiously.  
“Wha? What did she say!”, Lance exclaimed, causing Penny to giggle.

“Lance and Keith are sitting in a tree: K-I-S-S-I-N-G”, she sang at the top of her lungs and stormed out.

“Penny! Shut up! Come back here!” Lance followed her, suddenly wide awake again.

Keith remained where he was and let himself fall backwards onto the mattress. He laughed quietly at the sheer oddity of it all. When Lance didn’t return, he left the room to search for him. He couldn’t stay any longer in the room, trying to stop himself from going to Lance’s private stuff. Some minutes later, he found Lance in the garden. He was pushing Penny from behind as she squealed happily on a swing. Keith couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them and looked away when a certain thought passed his head. If he thought that meeting the family was too early, thinking that Lance would make a great father, was even more so.

  
~~  


The whole family was called into the oversized kitchen to help with the preparation for both lunch and dinner. In the midst of all this, the oven gave an occasional shout when a cake was ready. Just once wouldn’t be enough to accommodate the whole family, so several were in the making, supervised by one of Lance’s older sisters.

The food was utterly incredible. The cake even more so. Time after each meal was spent washing the dishes. The little one chose that time to make a mess out of the kitchen in the evening, by provoking lots of soap bubbles and blowing them at every single passerby. That is how Keith found himself drenched in soapy water and bubbles, much to the amusement of everyone. Pictures were taken, and Lance couldn’t really hide his glee when he led Keith back to his room to change into Lance’s clothes.

Keith had his chance for revenge when Lance turned away from him the minute that Keith took of the shirt.

“Huh, like what you see? Why so shy suddenly?” he teased and chuckled when Lance's voice had gone up an octave.

“W..who wouldn’t like that?” he slowly agreed.

“Why don’t you look at me then?”

“T..there are kids around and I… the door!…”

“The door is locked. You locked it yourself.” Keith, feeling suddenly bold, moved closer to Lance until the latter could feel his breath on his neck. Lance shuddered and closed his eyes.

“Keith…”, he whispered quietly and turned around only to jump back because Keith was suddenly so close and more importantly, shirtless.

“You’re killing me here Keith Kogane…”

“Yup, you do look like your burning up there” he agreed and pulled Lance’s face closer before kissing him.

A small surprised squeak left Lance’s lips just before they were preoccupied. It didn’t take long for Lance to regain his balance. He placed his hands on Keith’s throat, not in a threatening way, but carefully. He could feel his racing pulse, the only thing betraying Keith’s apparent calm.

  
~~  


Keith doesn’t remember much afterwards. They said their goodbyes to the family when the kids were due to go to bed. Rosa was a bit upset because they didn’t stay overnight like planned. They came up with a quick excuse to calm her down. The last thing that Keith does remember is catching the keys from Lance when he threw them at him.

“Your turn to drive. I am exhausted”, he smiled and placed his hand on Keith’s thigh when he started driving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This finally completes my domestic/chaotic/wild chapter. The story will get back on track to the club. There won't be that many more chapters to the story and its nearing completion. 
> 
> I can't really tell how many more chapters there will be. I am a clumsy writer who writes without planning each chapter ahead. I just write what I want to get down and decide when to cap the chapter.


	10. Returning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Check out the previous chapter if you haven't done so, it won't appear in the notifications as it's just an edit from my previous vacation/hiatus announcement. Thanks for reading ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out [Chapter 9 - Sunday](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8144960/chapters/22885158) before reading this one. I've changed the "Vacation Note" to the new chapter.

Shiro sat in front of Lance’s door when they pulled up the car into the driveway in the middle of the night. Keith hit the break so hard that Lance jolted awake.

“Keith, what's wrong? Did you hit someone? Oh, we’re there, why did you stop so… oh.”

Keith pulled the key out of the ignition and got out of the car.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” he growled.

Shiro inspected him.

“I was searching for you since you quit and never returned my calls or messages. I was worried.”

“I told you that I want to be left alone! Is that so hard to understand?!”

“You’re overreacting! Get a grip on yourself. You know I meant no harm!”

“Overreacting? You swore you’d never lie to me, yet, you kept silent about Allura. Why?!”

“Keith, we do not need to repeat this fight. I want you back home.”

Keith shut up. Lance worriedly hurried to his side and took his hand. Keith pressed it thankfully for support.

“That is not my home anymore. Don’t you get it? I am happy here. Happy with Lance. So please, go be happy with Allura and wait until I come to you to sort things out and probably take my stuff too.”

Shiro watched Keith grab Lance’s hand and remained silent for a while. He seemed to come to the conclusion that Keith was indeed alright. After all, Shiro had never seen Keith be so close with someone else, other than him. For him to allow Lance to be so close, must mean that they truly were together. Shiro heaved a sigh.

“Alright. I’m going. Just… take care of yourself.”

“Tell me one thing please, how did you find me?”

Shiro smiled at the question. “There is only one motorcycle like yours in the city. It’s only a matter of searching the streets for it.”

Keith nodded a little.

“I see.”

  
~~  


After Shiro had left, Lance could tell how shaken up Keith was by how silent he stayed. He knew that Keith was feeling guilty for pushing Shiro away. The older man wasn’t a bad guy, just tripped Keith’s wrong fuse at the wrong time and broke his heart to top it all off. To give Keith the space he needed, he remained on the couch and listened to his favourite song on his headphones, taking the melody and switching some of the words or even sentences.

Keith occupied the kitchen the next three hours and cooked up breakfast for the two of them. He also prepared lunch and dinner for the hell of it. He found Lance asleep on the couch and softly jostled him awake.

“Breakfast is ready. I would’ve let you sleep, but your stomach rumbled at me.”

Lance grinned at that.

“Thanks for listening to my stomach, I’m really hungry!”

Keith helped him up, and Lance ventured into the kitchen.

“I thought I was the only one skilled in cooking. But apparently, you can whip up some decent stuff too.”

“Cooking books do help a little.”

“Don’t be modest. This looks actually great.”

“I’m not sure whether to feel praised or offended at the excessive display of surprise.”

Lance laughed and started eating with Keith.

“So… do you want to talk about this morning?” he probed carefully and looked at Keith. He watched him still and sigh.

“Not really. I said everything there is to say this morning. When I am ready, I will talk to Shiro and see what can still be salvaged from our friendship.”

“The longer you wait, the harder you’ll make it for the two of you.”

“I know that myself. But I also know that I am not ready yet.”

Lance hummed. He understood Keith, and he wanted what was best for him. Maybe after the latest events, he needed a breather.

“Shall we go to Voltron tonight?”

“Mondays?”

“Yeah, it’s open seven days of the week. And just because I have the day off, doesn’t mean I can’t party in there.”

Keith shrugged.

“Okay. Anything is better than sitting here and sulking. You could teach me some of your crazy moves.”

Lance suddenly grinned. His posture was all in all rather evil.

“Oh, I’ll teach you, don’t worry. I’ll make you swoon and pray we were alone when I pull out my most seductive moves” he promised with a charming gleam of his teeth.

Keith chuckled.

“Don’t worry, I tend to take off my shirt when it gets too hot. And I discovered just yesterday how much it disarmed you.”

Lance blushed furiously at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rather short, but it's to be used as a starting point for the final events to occur in the next chapters. Shiro will definitely make an appearance, so will Allura and the whole of the Voltron team.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to check out my Twitter https://twitter.com/Fortressen  
> aaaaaaand my Tumblr https://fortressen.tumblr.com/
> 
> Feel free to comment and let me know what you think ^^


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